Family Ties
by summerdaze87
Summary: Keith is dead and his family must try to find peace, and the truth behind his murder... A new arrival to the town brings with her a surprising revelation, but will she be embraced by a family she's never known? Pairings: Brucas, Naley, and Jeyton...
1. Love is Thicker Than Blood

**Author's Note: **Okay, so here's my first attempt at an OTH fan-fic. Some background: Tree Hill High's graduation is next week (I had to include that in the story; it'll be in the next couple of chapters some time…), and everything up to Prom has happened like on the show, with a few exceptions. First, I like Leyton, but I'm definitely more a Brucas fan, so Peyton and Lucas never got together. Peyton got back together with Jake after the school shooting and he moved back to Tree Hill after being awarded full custody of Jenny. Jeyton is now engaged. So, the second change is that Lucas and Brooke are still together- hence, Chase never happened. No one knows yet that Dan killed Keith (with the exception of Abby, but no one knows she knows), so that will probably come out here, too. I guess that's it! I hope you guys like it! Read it and let me know what you think! -Jess

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Tree Hill_ or the song "Thicker Than Blood" by Garth Brooks… blah… blah… blah… Finn's mine, though!

_Our family never shared the same last name  
But our family was a family the same_

_(And they say) Blood is thicker than water  
Oh, but love is thicker than blood_

**--Chapter One--**

For seventeen years, Keith Scott had been at Karen Roe's side, helping her raise her son Lucas. He'd been, in every way that counted, Lucas's dad- playing ball with him, listening to him, talking to him, helping him make some of the biggest decisions in his life. When Keith died, it had been Lucas that mourned him, as a son would a father. It had been Lucas who desperately sought the truth behind his beloved uncle's death. And thousands of miles away, on the other side of the country, a young girl wept for lost possibilities… and a father she'd never know.

In the bustling city of San Francisco, California, Finley Alyn Scott- who had been given her father's surname, despite the fact that her parents had never married- sat on the cushioned window-seat in her bedroom on the second floor of the old Victorian house she'd grown up in, staring blankly out at the San Francisco Bay. Normally, that was a familiar and comforting sight for seventeen-year-old Finn. And, though her toffee-colored gaze hadn't moved since latching onto the Golden Gate Bridge, she wasn't really seeing anything as lost in thought as she was.

Today was her last day in San Francisco. In California. Hell, on the West coast. In a little over three hours, she would be boarding a plane to Raleigh, North Carolina. After that, she would rent a car and drive the two hours to Tree Hill- the town her mom had grown up in. The town her dad had grown up in… the town her dad had died in.

And that was what Finn was stuck trying to wrap her mind around- the fact that her father, Keith Alan Scott, was gone and she'd never even gotten to meet him. She didn't blame him for that, though. After all, that wouldn't really be fair, since her mom had never informed him of her pregnancy. Oh, several arguments had been fought over that point, but Finn had thought she'd found some peace with her mother on that one. Her father's death changed that all…

Eighteen years ago, when Rebecca Siler had first found out she was pregnant, Keith's younger brother Dan had already walked away from one unborn child. At eighteen, Becky had been afraid that Dan and Keith would prove to be more alike than most people thought, and Keith would walk away from her and their baby- Finn. So, Becky had fled to California, where she'd gotten a scholarship to attend college. Her great-aunt had let her move in with her and had taken care of Finn while Becky was at school.

It bothered Finn that Becky had painted Keith with the same brush as Dan, especially given the descriptions she'd gotten out of her mom over the years- from everything she'd heard, Keith and Dan Scott were really nothing alike. But, as Becky had pointed out many times over the years, an eighteen-year-old girl about to go off to college didn't always think about things like that when she first found at she was pregnant and Finn supposed she could understand that.

With the news of Keith's death, had come another rift between mother and daughter. All her life, Finn had harbored hope that she would one day be able to stand face-to-face with her father and, if she were really lucky, build a relationship with him. At the very least, she'd wanted him to know that he had a daughter.

The news of Keith Scott's untimely demise had been circulated widely, since he'd died in a shooting at Tree Hill High. Her mom had tried to tell her, when she'd found Finn with her gaze glued to the television set in the living room and tears streaming down her face, that she should be proud her father had died a hero. He'd gone into the school to talk the shooter, a young man authorities had identified as a student by the name of Jimmy Edwards, and ended up being one of two fatalities that day- Jimmy being the other, who had reportedly killed himself after shooting Keith.

And Finn figured that, in the grand scheme of things, she was proud of her dad- she was proud to be related to someone who had gone into a school where his nephews were being held hostage and tried to talk a terrified teen down. She was proud that her father had been such a great guy. Knowing that he was such a great guy- according to the newspapers and news channels, Keith Scott had been a well-liked man in Tree Hill with a kind heart- just made Finn angrier with her mother, though, for never telling Keith about her.

Being mad, hurt, sad, or even furious wasn't going to change anything, though, and Finn knew it. None of that would bring Keith back to all of the people who had known him and loved him, or to the daughter who'd never known any more than stories of his youth and who loved him anyway. If she wanted to know Keith now, she'd have to get to know the citizens of Tree Hill- the people who'd been a part of his life the past eighteen years. She wanted to meet the cousins Keith had sacrificed his life for, his fiancée, and his friends. She wanted to take flowers to his grave and tell him everything she'd been dreaming of telling him since she was a little girl.

And in a few hours, she'd be well on her way to doing all of that- she'd be in Tree Hill, North Carolina. She'd spend the entire summer there before heading off to Duke University, and she planned to learn as much about her father as possible in that time.

"Finn, are you ready to go?" Becky Siler questioned her only child as she pushed open Finn's bedroom door. The room her daughter had grown up in now seemed so plain- her furniture was all still there, but the posters and photos had all been taken down and packed, either away in boxes or into Finn's suitcases.

She couldn't believe her daughter, her baby girl, was all grown up and going away to college. Tears pricked her eyes because she knew Finn was angry with her, and she wondered if their relationship would ever mend. From the moment Finn had decided to go to Duke when she was seven-years-old, they'd planned to take their trip to North Carolina together. They were going to spend the whole summer in Tree Hill, seeing all of Becky and Keith's old stomping grounds and exploring any new additions to the town. When the time had finally come to make the travel arrangements, though, Finn had declared that she wanted to go alone. Instead of having three more months with her daughter before she started college on the other side of the country, they would be saying good-bye in an hour, when Becky dropped Finn off at the airport.

Without a word, Finn grabbed her backpack- filled with books to read on the two planes she'd be traveling on for the rest of the day, a journal, some clothes, her wallet, some snacks because airplane food always sucked, her cell phone, and her iPod- and slung it over a shoulder, squeezing by her mother on the way out of the room.

The ride to the airport was filled with a tense silence- while Finn knew being angry with her mom wasn't going to change anything, she couldn't help the emotions she was filling. She was smart enough not to open her mouth, though, and say something she'd probably end up regretting. Instead, she kept quiet, despite the fact that doing so took such great effort on her part that she'd already bitten her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood a couple of times. While she wasn't exactly a chatterbox, neither was she one to keep her opinions to herself- normally, at least. At the moment, she was sure anything she said would just make things worse between her and her mom, and she really didn't feel like doing that.

When they finally pulled up to the terminal, Finn practically leapt out of the car and removed her suitcases and backpack from the trunk. Her mother got out of the car along with her and gave her a hug before telling her to call when she got in. Though Finn didn't return the hug, she didn't back out of it, which she thought was pretty good on her part. "I will. Bye," she told Becky as she walked away, turning to give a little wave before she stepped inside the terminal.

Her voice hadn't held any of the anger or pain she was feeling- it had been utterly emotionless. Becky hadn't expected anything different, though, really. The quieter Finn was, the more upset she was- Becky was just glad Finn had actually said anything before stepping inside the terminal.

The three and a half hour flight to Chicago was passed reading _Pride and Prejudice_ for probably the millionth time and trying to ignore the little boy behind her who had clearly been practicing his soccer skills by kicking her seat the entire flight. The hour and fifteen minute layover passed getting to gate her next flight was departing from, buying a coffee she was desperately in need of, and waiting for all of the passengers to board the flight to Raleigh. It was just her own miserable luck that the same little boy who'd been behind her on the plane to Chicago had been seated beside her on the plane to Raleigh. It wouldn't have been so bad, really, if he hadn't decided to throw a tantrum that had lasted the entire two and a half hours of the trip- during which he had successful spilt not only his orange juice all over her, but her own Sprite, as well- she was thankful she'd finished her hot coffee before boarding.

It took another hour to get her bags, the car she'd arranged to rent for the next two weeks, until her car arrived from California, and find her way out of the rental car parking lot. By the time she hit I-40 and began the last two-hour leg of her journey, anger and emotional pain had been replaced by irritation, anxiety, frustration, hunger, and a headache. Wanting only to get to Tree Hill as quickly as possible, she decided food could wait until she'd reached her destination and, when she finally spotted Karen's Café once she passed the "Welcome to Tree Hill" sign, she was breathed a sigh of relief and swore she would love Karen- whoever she was- for the rest of her life, just for opening a café.

She grabbed her wallet and cell phone out of her backpack and headed inside. All she wanted to do was get some food, something to drink, get to the condo she was renting for the summer, take a shower, and go to sleep. She looked at her watch as she pulled the door open and decided it was probably safe to call her mom- Becky would probably still be at work, so she would call the house. She wasn't ready to talk to her just yet. As she'd hoped, the house phone rang three times before switching over to voicemail, and Finn left a quick message.

"Hi, Mom, I'm in Tree Hill. Stopped for some food, so I'll be at the condo in a bit. Bye." Once again, her voice was cold and devoid of any emotion- which was probably why people in the booth beside where she was standing were looking at her so bizarrely, she figured. It certainly wasn't because she'd used the cell phone in there; there were plenty of other people talking on them scattered about the café.

She ordered a burger, fries, and a Diet Dr. Pepper at the counter, then took a seat at the only empty table- right next to the booth full of teens who'd been staring at her. It finally hit her right about the time her food arrived that she was actually in Tree Hill- that her cousins could very well be in the cozy little café right that moment, that her father had probably eaten there several times over the past however many years the place had been open, and that most of the people in there had probably know him pretty well. The tears she'd fought against spilling since leaving her childhood home that morning fell from her eyes and emotion welled up inside of her. She couldn't stop the tears, which she knew were drawing more attention to her. The teens who'd been so puzzled by her behavior earlier were the only people close enough to hear the nearly imperceptible sobs and see the salty tears running down her face, and she could feel their curious gazes on her.

"Are you okay?" The softly asked question came from beside her and, without turning to look at the young man who'd posed it, she nodded her head in the affirmative- despite the fact that she clearly was not okay. But she didn't know these people, and it was bad enough that she was unable to control the crying-jag and put a stop to it- she didn't want to have to deal with strangers, no matter how kind they might be.

Lucas Scott, however, had never been one to back down from a challenge- nor had he ever been able to walk away from someone when they were clearly in pain. Wanting to help, as was his nature, Lucas moved his chair back just a little and angled his head in the direction of the girl- who he figured to be about his age- and said, "It doesn't look that way to me."

When she only ignored him, he simply sighed and pressed on, undeterred by her silence- after all, if he left people alone every time they said they were fine, he would never get anything out of Peyton, Brooke, Haley, or even Nathan. "I'm Lucas Scott," he introduced himself with a gentle smile, hoping she'd finally look at him.

His name, rather than the kind tone he'd been using, was what had her head jerking up. She was sure she looked like a deer caught in the headlights, but she couldn't help it- he'd said his name was Lucas Scott. Lucas Scott was her oldest cousin, the one her father had helped raise. With a look of sheer horror in her chocolate eyes, she bolted for the door, pulling it open as quickly as she could and running out onto the sidewalk and to her car, where she slumped in her seat once she'd unlocked the vehicle, her head resting on the steering wheel as she cried.

Lucas had decided that maybe he shouldn't push and just let the girl sort her problems out on her own, and was only slightly surprised when Nathan reached over to the table she'd been sitting at and picked up her wallet. He unzipped it and looked at her driver's license in an attempt to get her name, wondering if he would recognize it- not that he'd recognized the blond herself, but she'd obviously recognized Lucas, if the way she'd reacted when he'd introduced himself was any indication. "Finley A. Scott," he read, looking at Lucas with a shocked expression.

Two sets of blue eyes widened in disbelief as different possibilities filled Lucas and Nathan's minds, and the girls sitting beside them could tell that they were wondering if it was possible that Dan had another child. Nathan shoved the ID back into place and sprinted out the door, Lucas hot on his heels. They spotted Finn sitting in her car, shoulders shaking from crying so hard, and rushed over to her door, which she'd left open. The brothers crouched down beside her and Nathan handed her the wallet.

"You left this inside, Finley," he said, making sure to get her attention by using her first name. His eyes, along with Lucas's, were filled with tenderness and wonder as they waited for her to look up. When she did, she was biting her lower lip in an attempt to quiet her cries. "I'm Nathan Scott, and this is my brother Lucas."

Finn nodded her head- she knew their names and that they were brothers. Still, she remained silent, her amber gaze darting between the two of them as she alternately wished they'd just let her leave and, at the same time, wished they would never leave. "Are you… um… related to us? Is that why you ran?" Lucas asked as he found notable similarities between himself, Nathan, and Finley, making him even more certain Dan did in fact have another child.

When Finn bobbed her head again, both Nathan and Lucas sighed heavily, with Nathan saying, "You're our sister, aren't you? You look us, especially Luke," he added, seeing the same similarities in her facial features Lucas had.

At Nathan's comment, Finn shook her head and finally spoke in a trembling voice, her words slightly halted by her sobs. "I'm not… your sister. I… I'm your…" She broke off, unable to finish as Lucas and Nathan shared a surprised look.

If she wasn't their sister, then how was she related to them? The only other way she could be related to both of them was through Keith, and his only child hadn't been born yet- Karen was three months pregnant. But when Lucas's gaze captured and held Finn's, he saw the truth in the familiar brown orbs staring back at him.

Finn saw the change in Lucas's eyes as they went from compassionate to confused and drew a shuddering breath before saying, "My mom never told him," which only made the tears fall faster and she wondered if she would ever stop crying. "She was afraid he'd walk away like… like Dan did," she added, bowing her head and resting it once more on the steering wheel.

She wasn't trying to make excuses for Becky, and the Scott brothers seemed to understand that. "Is that why you were mad at her earlier, when you were on the phone?" Nathan asked, trying to wrap his mind around the idea that Keith had a daughter. It seemed impossible, and yet… not impossible at the same time, and he didn't know what to do with that.

Finn nodded. "I always knew she'd never told him, and we've fought about it before. But then he died, and I realized I was never going to get to meet him, and the fight started up all over again."

The boys could understand that- they'd both been hurt and frustrated when they'd found out they were brothers years ago, and that Dan had walked away from Karen and Lucas.

"So, your mom found out she was pregnant after my mom found out she was pregnant with me, right?" Lucas questioned, still reeling from his shock. At Finn's nod, Lucas went on, "So, you're younger than me by a few months- are you older or younger than Nate?"

"I'm younger than both of you- seven months younger than you, Lucas, and four months younger than you, Nathan. My mom was two years behind Keith in high school," she told them, her voice catching when she said her father's name. "She was in Dan and Karen's class," she added, "and when she found out she was pregnant with me, she'd already gotten accepted to a university in California, so she just left. She moved in with her great-aunt Vi, who took care of me while Mom was at school."

A contemplative silence fell over the trio for a moment as Nathan and Lucas took everything she'd told them in. "How long are you in Tree Hill?" Lucas asked, wanting her to say she was staying for a while- he wanted a chance to get to know his cousin, another link to his uncle Keith. He knew his mom would welcome Finn into the family, especially being pregnant with Keith's child.

"Until September, then I'm going to Duke," she replied, hoping they didn't tell her to get out now and leave them alone. Instead, she watched as smiles broke out on both of their faces.

"Duke, huh? Luke and I are gonna be going there in the fall, too," Nathan told her with a genuine smile, not his infamous smirk.

Lucas stood, taking one of Finn's hands from the wheel, while Nathan mimicked both actions. They pulled Finn up and out of her seat along with them. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Finley Scott, and I'm sure my mom- Karen, the owner of the café in front of us, and Uncle Keith's fiancé- will be more than thrilled to meet you, too," Lucas told her.

"Really?" Finn asked, wonder and skepticism filling her voice.

"Yup, especially since she's pregnant with our baby brother or sister," he added, realizing that the baby would be both his half-sibling and her half-sibling.

Nathan shook his head and threw his hands up in the air. "We have the most screwed up family tree in all of Tree Hill, don't we?" he asked with a laugh, slinging one arm around Finn's shoulders as Lucas did the same. They closed Finn's car door, locked the car with the button on the key ring, and walked back into the café, laughing when they saw that Peyton, Brooke, Haley, Deb, and Karen all had their faces pressed to the window, watching the scene in the parking lot.


	2. Can't Cry Hard Enough

**A/N: **Thanks to _ash-rox_, _truckcoff_, and _iluvmedou_ for the reviews! This chapter is a bit shorter, but it seemed like a good place to end it. Enjoy! -Jess

**Disclaimer: **Nope, still not mine… The lyrics at the top are from the Williams Brothers "Can't Cry Hard Enough."

_And now that you're gone_

_I can't cry hard enough  
No, I can't cry hard enough _

_For you to hear me now._

**--Chapter Two--**

With raised eyebrows and unabashed interest, the group gathered by the window waited in patient silence for an explanation and introduction. If you asked them, none would be able to say what exactly they were expecting, but whatever it was… it wasn't what they got. Each with an arm slung around their new-found cousin's slender- and still shaking- shoulders, Lucas and Nathan stared at the faces of their loved ones gathered before them and wondered how they were going to react to the news.

Though the tears had stopped falling, they'd left salty tracks on Finn's face, and her shoulders were now quivering with nervousness. Her biggest fear was now what would happen if the five women standing in front of her, who were obviously important to Nathan and Lucas, didn't want anything to do with her. Would Nathan and Lucas then turn away from her? Would she ever learn anything more about the man her father had been? Would the people who had been important enough to him that he'd willingly put his life on the line become as important to her?

With his free arm, Lucas gestured toward a short brunette with a dimpled smile. "That's my girlfriend, Brooke Davis," he said with a grin that caused Brooke's smile to widen.

"And that's my wife," Nathan told her with a proud smile as he motioned toward a pregnant woman with dark blond hair, "Haley James-Scott."

"Our friend, Peyton Sawyer," Lucas went on as he moved his arm in the direction of a tall woman with blond curls standing between Haley and Brooke.

"My mom, Deb Scott," Nathan added as he pointed at a middle-aged woman with short blond hair standing off to Haley's side. 

"And my mom, Karen Roe," Lucas declared as he waved his hand at another woman in her late-thirties, this one with dark brown hair, who was standing on the other side of Brooke, motioning for her to step forward. He looked her right in the eyes when he said in a kind voice, his arm tightening reassuringly around Finn's shoulders, "Everyone, this is Finley Scott."

Brooke, Haley, and Peyton all dropped their jaws in surprise, while Deb's eyes filled with pain- just as Nathan and Lucas had at first, she assumed the young woman with layered blond hair and brown eyes was Dan's daughter. Karen's brown orbs filled with confusion as she wondered why Lucas had singled her out when he'd introduced Finn, and her gaze moved to Finn's face.

Lucas watched in silence, as did the rest of the group, as Karen's eyes traveled over Finn's features and recognition began to set in, and was shocked when the first person to break the heavy silence that had settled over them was not Karen, but Finn.

"Um, you went to school with my mom. Her name's Becky Siler," Finn told Karen, keeping her gaze locked with Lucas's mother's. She saw the instant clarity in Karen's eyes- clearly she knew the name.

"Becky and Keith dated for two years before she left town," Karen whispered in awe as tears filled her eyes. They were tears of joy, at seeing Keith's daughter standing before her, and tears of anger because Keith had never met the young woman who'd had the courage to come to Tree Hill and face the family she'd never known, and tears of pain because he would never get the chance now.

"Why didn't Becky say anything?" Deb wanted to know. Because she'd met Dan in college, she'd never known the woman in question, and wondered what would possess anyone to keep a child from a man as kind and well-meaning as Keith had been… Now, keeping a child from Dan… That was something she could see someone doing; she'd often wondered what would have happened if she'd left Dan when she'd found out she was pregnant all those years ago, though she had to admit, despite Dan's influence, Nathan had turned out pretty well and she was proud of her son.

"She was scared… that, well… that Keith would walk away from her- from _us­_- like Dan had Karen and Lucas," Finn replied hesitantly, feeling uncomfortable defending her mother's actions since those actions were the very reason she and Becky were at odds.

Another pregnant pause reigned as everyone took her words in. Even Nathan and Lucas, who'd already heard Becky's reasons for leaving town without ever telling Keith that he was going to be a father, mulled them over once again. It wasn't that they didn't believe what she was saying, just that they didn't understand why anyone who'd known both Keith and Dan would ever assume they were anything alike.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to a terrified Finn who was once more on the verge of tears as she faced the woman who was carrying her unborn half-sibling, Karen managed a strangled, "Oh, my."

No one was sure what to say- here was this girl who claimed to be Keith's unknown daughter, who had a valid excuse for the fact that Keith had never known of her existence, and who was clearly mourning the loss of the father she'd never have the chance to know. Each and every one of them was feeling a myriad of emotions, ranging from happiness to rage and hitting everything in between. None of them could seem to find words to fit the situation, to ease the pain they were all feeling. Already filled with such sorrow over Keith's recent death, Finn's sudden appearance in their lives seemed to push them all over the edge.

She could blame it on the fact that Keith's loss was still much to fresh in her mind, or on pregnancy hormones, or on the conflicting emotions running through her- and she'd figure out which of the three to blame it on later. Feeling tears of her own begin to stream down her face, Karen placed a hand over her mouth and turned away from Finn, whose eyes were much too similar to Keith's and made her long for the man she'd loved for so many years but been too scared of being hurt again to risk fully giving her heart to, only to have him taken away from her forever when she finally did. She ran as quickly as her feet would carry her to the back room, promising herself she'd apologize for her behavior once she was more in control of the sobs wracking her body.

The sound of Finn's strangled sobs followed her to the back, making her heart ache for hurting the young girl- that hadn't been her intention, but she hadn't been able to stand there and look into those eyes any longer. It simply hurt too much.

Lucas's jaw went slack as he watched his mother, whom he'd been so certain would welcome Finn, turn away with tears in her eyes. Sure, they didn't have a blood test or anything like that to prove Finn was Keith's daughter, but really all you had to do was look at her to know it was true. And his mom had recognized Becky's name, had said that she had dated Keith for two years, for crying out loud! So, why had his mom turned away from Keith's daughter?

As Lucas stood there in a trance-like state, Nathan tried to wrap his arms around his cousin. It didn't seem rational that he should want to protect her since he really didn't even know her, but that's exactly what he wanted to do- he knew that Keith would want that. But Finn had other ideas as she fought out of Nathan's embrace and ran from the café once more- this time _with_ both her keys and her wallet- and out to her rental car.

She didn't have any clear destination in mind, though she knew the town's roads from the maps she'd found online, and just started driving. If she'd bothered to look in her rear-view mirror after tearing out of the parking lot, she would have seen Haley grabbing Nathan's hand and leading him to their car, with Peyton piling into the backseat. If she had looked, she would have seen them following her down the winding roads until she pulled her car to a stop at the cemetery- her father's final resting place.

But she didn't look back, so she hadn't realized that. She drove as though she was on auto-pilot and just sat in the car when she finally stopped, realizing for the first time that she didn't have any idea where in the cemetery her father was buried. Right then, Finn wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball on a big comfortable bed and cry until she had no more tears left to spill.

Nathan parked beside her, and three pairs of eyes watched in weighted silence for Finn to either turn her car back on and throw it in reverse, peeling out of there like she'd done back at the café, or climb out of the vehicle and make her way into the burial grounds.

When Finn finally did stumble from the car, it was Peyton who shook her head at Haley and Nathan and climbed out of the SUV Deb had recently given them, and walked over to the pristine white bench Finn had barely managed to carry herself over to, just inside the graveyard. After all, she knew what it was like to lose a parent- she'd lost both of her mothers. And though she'd known Anna, she could feel the memories she'd tried so desperately to cling to for years slipping away, and she'd only known Ellie for a few weeks- nowhere near enough time to get to know a parent. She, better than anyone in their little crew, knew how Finn was feeling at that moment.

She didn't offer empty words of reassurance that held no meaning to the teary-eyed girl slumped on the bench because she knew how much she herself hated it when people started telling her that they knew how she felt and how sorry they were. Instead, she did the only thing she knew would make Finn feel even a little bit better and took her hand, pulling her slouched form up, and led her to Keith's grave, stepping away to give her some privacy once they'd stopped in front of the cool gray headstone.

Finn fell to her knees as she read the epitaph on her father's headstone- and noted with great sadness that it said nothing about being a father. She reached one hand out to trace her father's name and quietly whispered in a broken voice, "How loud do I have to cry before you hear me, Dad?"


	3. Their Daddy Was a Good Man

**A/N: **First of all, thanks to my reviewers: _ash-rox_- I have never had a chapter be called bloody brilliant; that was so cool!! Thank you! _ilovemedou_- I'm so glad you found Karen's reaction realistic- I was a little worried that people would be mad at how I had her run off, but I am glad you guys understand! I'm so happy you are enjoying the story so far! _OTHlover04_- I hope you continue to enjoy the story! _Onetreehillfan1988_- I've read some where they have an unknown sister, too- I've had a few of those plot-bunnies attack, as well- but then this idea hit me, and Finn just wouldn't leave me alone! She had to have her story told... Thanks for the reviews, you guys- they mean so much to me! -Jess

**Disclaimer: **Not only do I not own _One Tree Hill_, but the lyrics you see are to the song "Good Man" by India.Arie and, therefore, also not mine…

_Should anything happen, I can hear you now_

_You told me if the sun comes up and I'm not home, be strong_

_If I'm not beside you, do your best to carry on_

_Tell the kids about me when they're old enough to understand_

_Tell them that their daddy was a good man_

**--Chapter Three--**

While his brother, sister-in-law, and friend had raced after his cousin- his _cousin_, Keith's _daughter!_- Lucas had stayed, along with Brooke, at the café and followed his mom to the back room. He didn't understand how she could run from Finn- the girl was a part of Keith, and after the way Keith had taken Lucas into his heart before he'd even been born, how could his mom just turn her back on his daughter like that? It didn't make any sense to him at all, and he was saddened by the realization that he was ashamed of his mother's response.

He stepped into the room, followed closely by his girlfriend, and silently thanked Brooke for her support as they let the door close softly behind them. Lucas couldn't find his voice- not without saying things he was sure he'd regret later, at least- and so it was Brooke whose kind words broke the heavy silence- other than Karen's heart-wrenching sobs, that is- filling the space between the heartbroken mother and her baffled son.

"Karen?" Brooke tentatively spoke the other woman's name, filling the single word with every ounce of both the sympathy and confusion she was feeling, and grateful to Lucas for holding his tongue and not upsetting his mother any further.

Though a part of her wished that she had just been left to cry in the store room for whatever period of time she chose- minutes, hours, or days- a part of her was glad that Brooke and Lucas had followed her. She turned on her heel and faced her son, whose fury went unmasked on his face, and Brooke, who'd spoken to her so kindly, as though she truly wanted to understand Karen's actions. And she knew that she did- though Brooke's heart was sheltered behind layers of bitchiness and apathy, when she allowed people past that barrier, they saw a truly kind heart made of fragile glass.

Karen shook her head, her dark hair brushing against her cheeks with the motion, and furiously swiped at her tears with the backs of her trembling hands. "I'm sorry," she said, forcing a laugh past the lump of emotion in her throat. "I didn't mean to run off like that."

Brooke nodded her acknowledgement of the statement, relief that perhaps the pregnancy hormones had just gotten the best of Karen flooding through her. "But…?" she gently pushed, knowing that Lucas, especially, needed to hear her explanation.

A small smile curved Karen's lips upward as she thought about the girl whose eyes were so much like Keith's. "It was too much- Keith being gone and never getting to meet her, how he left behind two children he'll never get the chance to know, and… her eyes just did me in, I guess," Karen tried to explain as she remembered how many times she'd gotten lost in Keith's eyes.

"She came here to get to know him through us," Lucas said, speaking for the first time since he'd seen his mother run away from his cousin. He was only slightly surprised that, though he'd only known her for a few minutes, Finn had already wormed her way into her heart. He knew what his mother was saying was true- her eyes were just like Keith's.

It wasn't that they were the same amber hue, though they were, but that they seemed to look at a person and see straight to the very core of them, straight to their soul. You could read her every expression in those eyes that hid nothing from the world and saw everything around them. For a moment, when he'd first looked into them, he hadn't seen Finn- he'd seen Keith, and he knew his mom had probably experienced the same heart-stopping feeling.

"Oh, Lucas, I know that," Karen said softly, her heart breaking for the young girl she'd inadvertently hurt. "And I want to tell her all about Keith. It's just… it hurts so much to know that the only way Finely and this baby are ever going to know their father are through the stories and memories we pass to them- they're his children, they should have _known him_." The last two words of her declaration were filled with such emotion that tears filled her eyes all over again, as well as Brooke's, whose heart went out to Finn, the baby, Lucas, and Karen.

"And we'll give them that, Karen," she told the woman who had been more like a mother to her than her own ever had, resting a hand on her arm reassuringly. "It's not fair, I agree, but it's the way it is, and it's up to the people who had the honor of knowing Keith to share his life with his children and hope they're half as great as he was."

A part of Brooke's heart would always be Keith's, for raising Lucas and loving him unconditionally, helping him grow into the wonderful young man standing beside her who'd shown her what true love was, and because Keith had given his life in an effort to protect his nephews and the rest of the students being held by Jimmy that day in the school.

As Lucas listened to Karen and Brooke, he felt his muscles slowly begin to lose their tension. He remembered how hard his mom had cried, like her heart was shattering all over again, when she'd found out she was pregnant. She'd been thrilled beyond words to have a part of Keith growing inside her, a piece of him to love and cherish for the rest of her days, but she'd been railed against the fates- or whoever was in charge up _there­_- for taking Keith away from his child. And he started to understand why his mother, a kind and compassionate woman who'd loved Keith with everything in her, would turn away from Keith's fully-grown daughter, tears streaming freely down her face. She hadn't been rejecting Finn- she'd been heartbroken on her behalf.

Without a word, knowing that actions spoke louder than anything he could say at that point, Lucas uncrossed his arms and stepped forward, wrapping his mom in his arms and resting his chin on the top of her head. On one hand, he felt like he'd lost Keith all over again, reliving the moment he'd found out he was dead in his mind as he had, along with every life-altering event since. On the other, he felt the same as he had the day his mom had told him she was pregnant- like he'd somehow gotten a little bit of Keith back.

Keith had raised him, when he should have had the opportunity to raise Finn. And there was no disputing the fact that he'd been a wonderful father to Lucas, loving him as though he were his own son, and, as irrational as it might sound, Lucas felt like he'd somehow cheated Finn because he'd gotten the dad she should have had. He'd promised his unborn sibling that he would teach him or her all about Keith and tell it all about its wonderful father- now, standing in the crowded store room in the back of his mom's café, he silently made the same vow to Finn. He would be the man Keith had raised him to be- and he would love the girl who would have been his step-sister as a big brother would, just as he would love the baby his mom was carrying.

"We will," Lucas said, finally finding his voice, though the words came out choked. "We'll tell them how lucky they are to have such a good man for a father."

He reached for Brooke's hand, not wanting to leave her out of this moment- she had been the light during his darkest hour after Keith's death, and he knew that he would need her strength to share every great memory he had of his uncle with the baby and with Finn. And, as he watched Karen wrap one of her arms around Brooke, he knew that his mom needed the light Brooke gave everyone she loved just as much.

Brooke gave one of her famous dimpled smiles- granted, mostly to herself, since neither Lucas nor Karen could see it at the moment- at being included in the hug. She thought about how Karen and Keith had accepted her as a part of Lucas's life, and the role Keith had played in bringing an end to the feud between the younger generation of Scott brothers.

In some way or another, Keith had touched the lives of everyone in their group: Karen and Lucas most obviously, but Nathan, Haley, Peyton, herself, Mouth, and even Jake- and therefore Jenny- had been influenced by Keith to some extent. And Brooke, for one, was glad to have the chance to repay Keith, if only just a little bit- she figured she owed him. He'd always been there for any one of them when they'd needed guidance or a shoulder to cry on- now it was their turn to be there for his kids. _We can do that_, she thought to herself with a smile- and she knew without a doubt that each and every member of their little crew could, and would, do that… because Keith had taught them how.

Karen pulled away from the embrace and wiped away the last of her tears- which, she gratefully noted, were now under control once more- and looked at Lucas. "Where is she now?"

Lucas gave a little shrug in reply, frowning as he realized he had no idea- though, wherever Finn was, he knew Nathan, Haley, and Peyton were with her and that made him feel marginally better about the situation. "I don't really know… But I'm pretty sure I saw Nathan grab Haley and make a run for the Pilot, and Peyton followed…"

"It'll be okay, then," Brooke reassured them both with her usual cheerfulness. "If anyone knows about losing a parent, it's Peyton, right?" Though she said it with a smile, a pang went through her heart as she thought about the losses her friend had endured. Still, she knew that losing Anna and Ellie had made Peyton stronger, and her experiences could help Finn get through… well, everything that was going to come to pass in the future as a result of Keith's death, whatever all of that may be- and since Brooke couldn't see the future, she could only guess at how difficult Finn's life was about to become as she tried to build a relationship with the people her dad had loved.

How hard was it, she wondered, to say good-bye to someone you never knew- but who was partially responsible for your very existence- while at the same time, trying to find out everything you possibly could about the life they'd led… Hello and good-bye, all at the same time…

What Brooke didn't know was that Karen, Lucas, Nathan, Haley, and Peyton were all thinking along those same lines… And promising to help anyway they could, as a way to honor Keith's memory- because they all knew that Keith would have done the same for any one of them…


	4. Two Teardrops

**A/N: **Okay, quick little note: the couples will gradually be integrated into the storyline, for all of you Brucas, Naley, and Jeyton lovers, as they all become more important in Finn's life and in each other's. In this chapter, I figured, "Hey, Keith's playing guardian angel to Luke and Nate, why not have him pop in and see his own kid?" Hope you guys like it! Thanks to _ash-rox_, _ilovemedou_, and _tinycapricorn12_- your reviews mean so much to me! I am so happy that you guys are liking the story, and hope you continue to enjoy it! You're all great! -Jess

**Disclaimer: **OTH- not mine… The song, "Two Teardrops"- also not mine (by Steve Wariner)

Oh, the ocean's a little bit bigger tonight  
Two more teardrops somebody cried  
One of them happy and one of them bluer than blue  
The tide goes out and the tide comes in  
And someday they'll be teardrops again  
Released in a moment of pleasure or a moment of pain  
Then they drift on down and ride to the sea again

**--Chapter Four--**

Dad? Keith thought, as he stood beside the headstone, invisible to those around him but able to see them, and stared down at the teenage girl with her head bowed and tears running down her cheeks in salty tracks, tracing his name with her small fingers- had that girl actually called him "Dad?" She had, he'd heard it- he heard the words of everyone who came to visit his grave, most often Luke or Karen, occasionally Dan (which Keith thought was insanely ironic, given the fact that Dan was the reason he was six-feet under to begin with).

It really was just his luck- he finally had kids of his own… and the only father-child bonding experiences would take place at his grave. He was pretty sure someone was having a good laugh over that somewhere. It had been hard enough hearing from Karen, the woman he'd loved for years before making the slightest move on her, that he was going to be a father- oh, yeah, now that had been great. As if he hadn't hated his brother enough for taking him away from Karen, Luke, Nate, and Haley, he'd taken his dream away- a family with Karen. Now, that wasn't to say, even in the least, that he didn't love Lucas as though he were his very own son- he did, really and truly. But at the end of the day- at the end of his life- he'd been forced to admit that, however much he loved Lucas and as much as he loved the idea of being his father, he wasn't.

And then he'd listened to her tell him how his death had changed him- sure, and why not? Killing your brother was bound to make even the lowest of life forms (i.e. Dan) feel guilty- apparently, guilty enough that Dan was now trying to make up for every one of his past indiscretions (and, boy, wasn't that a lengthy list) by helping Karen raise Keith's baby? Really, if he hadn't been so pissed off by the idea, Keith figured he probably would have laughed at his brother's audacity- who did Dan really think he was fooling? Oh, wait- Karen, that's right. And, for the time being, she was going along with it- Keith just hoped she woke up and smelled the coffee one day soon, before Dan hurt her… again.

But he'd come to terms with the fact that, at the very least, he'd always be there for his and Karen's baby- as would Luke and Nate, who had both grown into young men he didn't think he could possibly be any prouder of- and he'd get to watch the child grow, even though it would be from a great distance.

Not so with the girl in front of him- he hadn't been there to watch her grown up, hadn't been there to help her with her homework or listen to her talk about her day at school. He hadn't been there to hear her first word or see her take her first step. He hadn't seen her for the first time when she'd come into this world- nope, he was seeing his daughter for the first time at his grave. Definitely not fair.

A thousand questions bombarded him- who was her mother? Why had he never known about her? What was her name? When was her birthday? What was her favorite color, or food, or season? Why had she come to Tree Hill? When had she found out about him? Did Lucas and Nathan and Karen know about her?

Surely, this was a recent development- after all, if Luke had known, wouldn't he have mentioned something about the girl when Keith had "visited" him in? Wouldn't Luke have wanted to know why Keith had never told anyone about his daughter (or why he'd never known about her himself)? Most likely…

So, this was new… Oh, boy, he could just imagine how Danny-boy was going to take this one… Keith shook his head and sighed, running a hand down his face. He hated that he'd just found out about her, hated that he'd missed so much of her life, hated that he wouldn't be there to teach his and Karen's child how to ride a bike or play basketball, but what he really, really, really hated most of all was that Dan would be a part of their lives- and he wouldn't.

Life's not fair- gee, how many times had heard that phrase? How many times had he said it? Didn't the freaking phrase seem to infer that whatever was after life was fair? Or, hell, just a little bit more fair than life? One would think so… and one would be wrong, because there was no way that this was fair!

He wanted to punch something- but his hand would just go straight through whatever he directed his anger toward without doing any damage, which would only irritate him more. He wanted to scream- but he didn't know who to inflict his ghostly wrath on. Instead, he found himself counting to ten… and then twenty… and then thirty. His temper had moved from boiling to simmering by the time he got to fifty, when the young girl raised her head… and all he saw was a younger, shorter, much more feminine version of himself. Her face was less angular, but the features were the same nonetheless… The lips, the eyes, the cheekbones, the nose… Smoother, less pronounced, but there.

Finn stared at her father's headstone and, with the hand that had been tracing the engraved letters of his name now resting flat against the surface, began to speak. "My name's Finn," she told him, and he found her voice soft and sweet. "Finely Alannah Scott- my mother's your ex-girlfriend, Becky Siler, and one day… maybe… I'll tell you why she never told you about me, but right now… well, I'm still pretty ticked at her and don't feel like defending her. I mean, I've always known she never told you, and I've never been okay with that. I actually always thought it pretty much sucked, but I had this dream that I'd meet you someday. And then you died, and I got even madder at her because that dream's never going to come true.

"I came to Tree Hill because, well, I guess that's always been part of the dream- you know, spend a summer here getting to know you and the town you and Mom grew up in, before going off to college at Duke. I got in today, went to the café- I met Lucas and Nathan. I wish you had been there to see their faces when I told them who I was- they thought I was Dan's daughter at first, and I would have laughed at that if I hadn't been so terrified that they'd want nothing to do with me. They do, though- they're going to go to Duke, I guess you probably know that, right? I think we could all be pretty close someday, which is nice- they were important to you, so I'd like them to be important to me."

Keith's hands had clenched into fists when she'd mentioned Becky- how could Becky have kept a child from him? It had then occurred to him that Finn was about the same age as Lucas and Nathan, and he hoped his nephews would befriend her, make her feel welcome in their family. When she'd said that she wanted them to important to her because they'd been important to him, his fists had unclenched and he'd felt his throat clog up- as angry as he was with Becky for keeping Finn from him, he had to admit she'd done a good job raising her.

"Karen seemed… well, upset, I guess… God, I hope she's not angry, but she cried and ran away and… well, I didn't stick around to see if it was pregnancy hormones all out of wack or if she just didn't want anything to do with me. Really, I didn't even think about the whole pregnancy thing until after I got here. Lucas and Brooke stayed at the café- hopefully, Karen's okay now… I mean, she seemed really nice and all, and I'd really like to be a part of the baby's life… I'm going to be a big sister," she added with a touch of disbelief and awe filling her voice. "Nathan, Haley, and Peyton followed me here, though- and I'm glad they did. I mean, I know the town because I looked up all of these maps and so I knew where the cemetery was… I had no clue where you're grave was, though, and Peyton brought me over. I'll have to thank her for that- she seems nice. They all do- and I know I would really like to be friends with them. To be a part of their lives- I want them to like me. I guess it's kind of like, if they like me, then… maybe it's sort of a sign… that you'd have liked me." She shook her head at her own bizarre thoughts, and Keith's mouth turned up in a smirk.

He was sure Karen had just gone into an emotional over-drive- he'd known her long enough to be sure she'd love his daughter and make sure Finn knew that, even though he was dead and he'd never known about her, he was with her and loved her… How could he not- she was his daughter, and that meant more to him than he could ever say.

And he was grateful to Lucas, for staying with Karen and trying to find out what was wrong- he seriously hoped his nephew hadn't overreacted to his mother's response to Finn, but he knew Luke, and he just wasn't sure… which was why he was glad Brooke was there- Luke's complete opposite, she understood him better than anyone he'd ever met. He was thankful that Haley- who had been like a daughter to him for so long, being Luke's best friend since she was a little girl as she had been- and Nathan- who had turned out to be a pretty great young man that Keith was proud to say was nothing like Dan, despite some of his earlier tendencies to be a jerk- had followed Finn. He was grateful to Peyton- the tortured artist with one of the purest souls Keith had ever met, who touched more lives than she realized- for guiding Finn to his resting place. Because all of that told him that they would all be okay- Lucas, Nathan, Haley, Brooke, Peyton, Karen, the baby, and Finn… they'd be okay because they would be there for each other.

"It might sound silly, but I kind of see you sitting on a cloud, talking to all of these other angels, and sharing stories and watching out for Lucas and Nathan and everyone… and I'm sure you're bragging about your nephews, and I hope that you're up there, with a smile on your face, going, 'That's my daughter,' because I want you to be proud of me… that's all I've ever wanted." She was whispering, but Keith heard her just as clearly as if she had yelled the words.

As one last lone tear slipped down her face, a matching one made a path down Keith's cheek and he placed his hand on the crown of her head, wishing he could feel the softness of her silky blond tresses, knowing that- between her tears and his- the ocean would be a little bit bigger tonight. The words that came out of his mouth were filled with pride when he quietly said, "My daughter, my little girl… I couldn't be more proud of you or love you any more than I already do."


	5. Holes in the Floor of Heaven

**A/N: **Okay, I know I said this in the last chapter's note, but I just want to reiterate: as the story continues, you will see more Naley, Brucas, and Jeyton. For the first while, it will be mostly Finn bonding with Nathan, Lucas, Haley, Brooke, Peyton, Jake, and Karen. I really hope you guys like it! -Jess

**Disclaimer: **So not mine!!! The song is "Holes in the Floor of Heaven," by Steve Wariner.

_And there's holes in the floor of Heaven,_

_And her tears are pouring down,_

_That's how you know she's watching,_

_Wishing she could be here now,_

_And sometimes when I'm lonely,  
I remember she can see,_

_Yes, there's holes in the floor of Heaven,_

_And she's watching over you and me._

**--Chapter Five--**

Finn lingered at Keith's grave for a few more moments before standing and turning to find Peyton, hoping to thank the girl and be led back to their respective vehicles as she had no idea how to get out, having been in a total daze pretty much from the moment she'd driven up to the cemetery. Instead of finding her standing a few feet away or even sitting on another of the white benches that were scattered about the graveyard, she spotted Peyton's curly head a few rows over- she was crouching down in front of another headstone and talking softly.

Though she didn't want to intrude on Peyton's private moment any more than Peyton had wanted to intrude on hers, she found that she was a little too curious to just stand there and wait. She walked the short distance to the other grave and Peyton, having heard the soft crunch of footsteps, raised her head.

A ghost of a smile flitted across Peyton's face as Finn approached her. "Feel better?" she asked the other girl hesitantly.

Finn nodded in reply. "Yeah, thanks. I… well, just thanks," she said with a gusty sigh. Looking at the headstone, she read, "Anna Sawyer." One eyebrow arched inquisitively, and Peyton gave her a small smile.

"My mom," she said. "She died when I was eight." An odd look crossed her features and Finn tried to place it. She thought about what she remembered about being eight, and realized there really wasn't much… Maybe Peyton didn't remember her mom very well?

Finn crouched down beside her, knowing that this was someone who could really understand what she was going through and be friends with. "Do you remember her?" she asked softly.

With a slow shake of her head, the other blond replied, "A little bit less every day."

"I'm sorry, Peyton," Finn said as she looked over at the headstone once more. "It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Sawyer- I'm Finn Scott, Nathan and Lucas's cousin… I don't know if you know them or not… Anyway, I've only been in town a little bit, but my new friend Peyton here has already been a big help- she showed me where my dad's buried, which was very nice of her." She turned her gaze to Peyton, who seemed a little surprised that Finn wasn't the least bit weirded-out talking to a headstone like some people were. "Do you think they're watching us?" she asked Peyton.

It was with that question that Peyton realized the girl crouched down next to her could very well become one of her best friends- she could talk about her philosophies on the afterlife without Finn looking at her like she was crazy because, just maybe, the other girl had similar ideas. "Yeah, I do," she replied honestly. "I come here a lot, you know, to talk to her… I'd like to think she can hear me," she said with a small grin.

Finn bobbed her head in agreement. "You look like you expect me to laugh hysterically and cart you off to the loony bin, Peyt," she said with a small chuckle. "In the last twenty minutes, I have introduced myself to two headstones- I really hope that they ghosts/angels/whatever people become when they die those markers belong to heard me."

Her statement elicited a short laugh from Peyton. "You know, I have Brooke, who's been my best friend since we were nine, and who comforted me when my mom died. I have Haley, who's got one of the kindest hearts of anyone I've ever met, and I have Jake- my boyfriend- who I can talk about anything with… but talking and understanding are two entirely different things. So, I guess where I'm going with this is that if you ever need someone to talk to who understands what it's like to lose a parent, you can come and find me."

A genuine Scott-smirk curved Finn's lips upward as she considered Peyton's words- and read between the lines of what she was saying. She could tell that Peyton Sawyer wasn't a person who easily opened herself up to others, and thought that maybe some people had given up on trying in the past. She could see past the tough, punk exterior to the vulnerability that lay beneath and knew that, sometimes, Peyton needed to talk to someone who understood, too. "I think I could probably manage that," she told her new friend with a look that challenged Peyton to do the same.

Though Peyton didn't actually come out and agree, she inclined her head to Finn, knowing that the newest addition to their group- and there was no doubt that, as Nathan and Lucas's cousin, she would be a part of it- would understand what she was trying to say. Finn, it seemed, had the same eerie ability the father she'd never known had displayed on more than one occasion- when she looked at someone, she really saw straight to the heart of who they were.

It seemed a little odd to both of them that they were apparently bonding over the deaths of their parents, and Peyton knew that, sooner or later, their friendship would be strengthened when they discussed secrets parents kept… like how Anna and Larry had kept the fact that she'd been adopted as an infant until Ellie had shown up. She thought about how upset she'd been that day, and how upset she'd been when she found out about her brother… er, her _real_ brother, not her psychotic-stalker who'd pretended to be her brother… and she wondered about Finn's reaction to finding out about Karen's baby- what if Finn had never come to Tree Hill? Would she have ever known about the baby? Probably not- and then she would have missed out on her brother or sister's life the same way she and Derek had missed out on each other's.

They sat there in front of Anna's grave a while longer before ran began to lightly sprinkle down around them. Peyton stood up almost immediately after feeling the first cold drop of precipitation on her skin, bared by her sleeveless _Travis_ shirt, and said a quiet good-bye to her mom. "I'll be back soon," she promised they gray stone with a sad smile as she waited for Finn to rise.

"It was nice meeting you, Anna. If you get the chance, could you tell my dad I say 'hi,'? I'd really appreciate it," Finn said with a goofy smile as she tilted her head up to the rolling dark gray clouds overhead. Neither of the girls noticed Haley and Nathan coming toward them- probably having decided that, since it looked like the drizzle was about to turn into a down-pour, it was time to collect both Peyton and Finn and take them some place warm and dry. Three flabbergasted jaws dropped open in surprise when Finn began to sing.

"'Cause there's holes in the floor of Heaven/ and her tears are pouring down/ that's how you know she's watching/ wishing she could be here now/ And sometimes when I'm lonely/ I remember she can see/ Yes, there's holes in the floor of Heaven/ and she's watching over you and me." It was the chorus of one of her favorite songs, "Holes in the Floor of Heaven," by a country artist named Steve Wariner, and the gently blowing breeze seemed to carry her beautiful voice across the graveyard.

Her voice was clear and strong, a startling revelation for Nathan, Haley, and Peyton, who had deemed Finn to be soft-spoken. None of the trepidation or anxiety that came across in her voice when she spoke was present as she sang, which amazed them all. She seemed so much more sure of herself that it was almost like they were looking at someone entirely separate from the girl they'd met only a couple of hours ago.

Nathan listened to Finn, startled to find that she had an absolutely amazing voice, and realized two things: one, Finn was going to fit in perfectly with all of them and two, that he wanted to hear her speak with that much confidence. He looked over at Keith's grave and then up at the sky, raindrops sliding down his face as he smiled up at the heavens- at his uncle Keith… and thought that maybe the song held some merit- maybe Peyton's moms and Finn's dad were up there, crying tears of joy. It was a nice thought, an idea that filled his chest with warmth as he wrapped his arms around Haley and held her close, knowing that she was just as touched as she was by the tune his cousin was singing.

Finn didn't sing the whole song- just the chorus, mostly because she'd looked up to see Nathan and Haley standing not five feet away and she'd started laughing. "What are the two of you doing out here? Haley, you're pregnant! You should be in a nice warm car, with the heater blowing on your feet right now!" she playfully chastised her cousin's wife as she linked arms with Peyton and walked over to Haley and Nathan.

_Maybe visiting Keith helped_, Nathan thought, taking in the smirk that was so much like his and Lucas's, noting that the fear was gone as Finn teased Haley. She seemed to have realized that they wanted her to be a part of their lives as much as she wanted to be. He noticed the grin on Peyton's face and knew the two had formed a friendship over the loss of their respective parents, and he was glad that they would be able to help each other. He was also sure that Finn's apparent love for music would only serve to strengthen that bond- after all, _nobody_ loved music as much as Peyton.

Finn's musical ability had already intrigued Haley, too, he noticed with a smirk as he thought of what the two of them could do to a crowd, and knew that Finn had wormed her way into a lot of hearts today- he and Lucas, he knew, would become her protectors, just the way Keith would want his little girl to be guarded- and he had no doubt that Finn would soon have Mouth and Jake wrapped around her little finger, too; Peyton, Haley, and Brooke would be glad to have another girl in the group to drag on shopping expeditions or dancing at Tric; Karen's baby would have a big brother _and_ a big sister; and _everyone_ who'd loved Keith had just been given a great gift: a young woman who was more like her father than she might realize at the moment… but she'd find out soon enough how similar to Keith she was- everyone around her was realizing it quickly enough, that was for certain, and they were all glad to have a piece of him with them once again.


	6. Like A Bridge Over Troubled Water

**A/N: **Natalie, it's as you said: Finn is my baby. She's my creation, and I feel that I owe her the chance to have her story and personality told in the perfect way (yeah, I'm weird, LOL). I am glad that you find my writing peaceful and calming, as that is what is to me- writing is my escape from the drama-filled chaos of life. It brings me a sense of peace and calm, and I can just let my imagination drift along and let the story unfold. I hope you continue to enjoy Finn's tale!

As an addition, I am hoping to post again sometime in the next 24 hours, as I have done to this point, but I will be with my grandfather while he undergoes several hours of chemotherapy tomorrow and may not have the chance to get to my computer to do so. If that happens, I apologize ahead of time, but I will try my hardest to avoid that scenario. The chapter you are about to read is slightly shorter than previous ones, as the next chapter is of a different mood and this seemed like the place to say good-night on this one. Enjoy! -Jess

**Disclaimer: **OTH and all of its characters belong to people who aren't me, don't know me, and in all likelihood will never know me- and I, sadly enough, will never be rich enough to own OTH or even just one of its beloved characters… Drat the luck… As for the song, it seemed to fit the friendships between Brooke, Peyton, Haley, Lucas, and Nathan and is "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" by Simon and Garfunkel.

_When you're weary, feeling small,_

_When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;_

_I'm on your side. When times get rough,_

_And friends just can't be found,_

_Like a bridge over troubled water,_

_I will lay me down._

_Like a bridge over troubled water, _

_I will lay me down._

**--Chapter Six--**

A small, almost imperceptible smile tugged at Finn's mouth when she spotted Deb, Karen, Lucas, and Brooke waiting at the café's window, as though there had not been even the slightest doubt that the trio trudging through the streaming puddle of water alongside her would succeed in not only tracking her down, but returning her to the nest they'd all flocked to. She briefly wondered how many times Karen's Café had been the meeting place for this eclectic group that, while so inherently different from one another, flowed so well not only because of the many things they had in common beneath the masks they wore for the rest of the world, but also because of their many differences.

At first glance, she'd found it laughable that the suave and cool Nathan, the gentle and thoughtful Lucas, the bubbly Brooke, the quirky but wallflower-ish Haley, and the gloomy Peyton could all be friends. Even in the small amount of time she'd spent in their company, she'd seen the love between them, flowing almost tangibly through the group and encompassing them all in its warm embrace.

The pride with which Nathan had claimed Haley- who outwardly seemed to be his polar opposite- as his wife, the tender way he'd held her in the strong circle of his arms- a blind man could have easily seen the love they shared.

And Lucas and Brooke- oh, she'd bet the two of them had set tongues wagging at the start of their relationship. If Nathan and Haley were opposites, then Brooke and Lucas were from two different worlds. But they balanced each other- in such a way that one might even say they completed one another. His thoughtful pondering to her impulsive streak- which Finn would bet was a mile wide- and her frilly pink princess personality to his tall, dark, and silent… Like Haley and Nathan, they fit.

She'd yet to meet the boyfriend Peyton had mentioned earlier at Anna's grave, but Finn was sure he was someone who countered Peyton's quiet vulnerability with proud strength- she was also almost certain that Jake, as Peyton had called him, could bring out a more carefree side of Peyton she rarely showed the rest of the world.

And it wasn't just the obviously in love couples… The way Peyton and Brooke had gathered around Haley when she'd first met them, clumping themselves together, spoke of true and unshakable friendship between the three- a rarity that Finn herself had never been blessed enough to be a part of. She'd once heard that best friends were the sisters Destiny forgot to give us, and she could see that in them, knew instinctively that they loved each other fiercely and unconditionally.

Fierce and without conditions- it was, she thought, how they all loved one another, this hodge-podge of personalities that fit together so well. It set her mind to wondering what had brought these people, so varied in the appearances they gave the rest of the world, together and shown them their likenesses, made strengths of their weaknesses.

When she stepped into the café- Nathan, Haley, and Peyton surrounding her, watching warily along with Lucas, Brooke, and Deb, to see what she and Karen would do- she was almost immediately pulled from her musings as Karen's arms encircled her, tears streaming down both of their cheeks- Karen's because she was so thrilled to have a chance to build a relationship with Keith's daughter that she promised herself (and Keith) that she would love Finn every bit as much as Keith had loved Lucas… because Finn was a part of Keith, and that was surely more wonderful than any gift Karen had received lately, with the exception of the news of her own child with Keith- though the man she'd loved so powerfully for half of her life was gone from the corporeal world, she was finding contentment in the knowledge that he had left pieces of himself behind to nurture and to love and to teach…

And Finn because, in that moment, she knew that she had been accepted by all of these people her father had loved. And, as she marveled at the love they had for one another, she wondered at how much they must have loved her father to accept his child with such openness.

Her heart broke just a little more at the idea that should could have been a part of all this from the very start, if only her mother had told Keith about her. She could have grown up with all of this love and warmth- not that she hadn't been loved by her mom, she knew she had, but their relationship had always been somewhat distant, with a dark cloud looming over it, always reminding Finn of the chances her mother had taken away from her.

She figured, one day, she might be able to forgive her mom enough to have the kind of relationship she'd always wanted with her. But right now, she wasn't ready to do that- she wasn't ready to forgive her mom for everything she could have had but never would… a chance to have her dad in her life. For now, she had Karen, Deb, Lucas, Nathan, Brooke, Haley, Peyton, Jake, and her unborn sibling…

For the first time in her life, Finn didn't feel like she had to guard her heart. She didn't feel like she couldn't trust- a feeling she'd known for years, forged of her anger at her mother (after all, if you couldn't trust the woman who'd given birth to you to tell the truth, who could you trust?), and had never really been able to let go of. Before her stood people she could talk to about her dad- her favorite topic, by far, and a subject that had always led to bitter arguments with her mother- and she knew they would share a multitude of stories about Keith Scott.

She'd told herself for years that she knew her mother's reasons for keeping her from Keith, and it probably would have been a whole lot easier to accept them if she hadn't just witnessed for herself how much the people gathered around her had loved him- a love she was sure had been returned equally. If he'd been the man her mother had feared he'd become, she could have walked away and accepted the way things had been- but he hadn't, and that was clear to see. She'd been deprived of a kind-hearted father who would have loved her, claimed her, wanted her in his life… and she knew that with every fiber of her being because the people he'd left behind had opened their world, their lives, their hearts to her.


	7. Tell Me Your Story

**A/N: **Eeeek!!! I am SOOOOOO sorry for the delay in getting this out to you guys! I'm not making excuses here, but I know from experience that when long delays like this happen, people start to wonder if something serious has happened, so I'll offer up an explanation. My grandfather had two more weeks of chemo, which made him grumpy and sick (naturally), and I did my best to make him comfortable. I also started working. I was going to write on the weekends (both this one and the one before), but we went up into the mountains and hiked and picnicked, so I didn't really get the chance. So, I am super sorry for the delay, but I hope you all like the chapter! Please review and let me know what you think! There's no song because I couldn't think of a good one to put there- there are probably several, but I'm drawing a serious blank, so… Yeah… -Jess

**Disclaimer:**Nope, OTH still belongs to Mark Schwann- to whom I give major brownie points for the awesome season four finale!

**--Chapter Seven--**

When Karen finally released Finn, after murmuring "I'm sorry," any number of times, Brooke slipped her arm through Finn's and one through Peyton's- who linked arms with Haley- and left the guys and Deb to follow them to a booth. Brooke and Peyton slipped into one side, with Finn and Haley on the other, so Nathan and Lucas scooted a small table over and joined the girls. Karen and Deb excused themselves to the kitchen, saying that they actually did have a café to run, which got a laugh out of the gang. A few minutes later, Jake came in carrying Jenny and passed his daughter into the waiting arms of her "uncle" Lucas so he could give his girlfriend a kiss. It took him a few seconds to realize there was a new addition to the group, but when he finally realized that Finn was there, he arched an eyebrow in silent question, figuring he'd get answers from everyone there.

He wasn't disappointed- but he was surprised. As though perfectly choreographed, Brooke, Peyton, Haley, Nathan, and Lucas told Jake, "She's Keith's daughter," while the blond tucked into the far corner of the booth blushed at being the center of attention once more- now that she wasn't in hysterics, she was quite embarrassed by her lack of control earlier.

Jake was immediately struck with a wave of sympathy for Finn because Keith was gone, and looked toward his own daughter, thankful he hadn't lost her in the recent trial against Nicki. He didn't want to think of how she could have grown up with Nicki feeding her ideas about how he hadn't wanted her or, perhaps even worse, not telling Jenny anything about him at all. "I'm Jake, Peyton's boyfriend," he said with a smile, still amazed that he could say that after everything they'd been through with Nicki- there had been a few times there that he'd thought he was protecting Peyton by pushing her away, despite the fact that neither of them had really wanted it that way; he knew that Peyton hadn't put up too much of a fight those times because she'd known how much it had hurt him to push her out of his life, and hadn't wanted to cause either of them anymore pain.

Even if she had wanted to, Finn couldn't have resisted returning Jake's smile- it was practically contagious. Even Peyton smiled- and was that a blush creeping up those cheeks? "Finn Scott," she told Jake, "and who is that precious little girl you brought in with you?"

Finn had thought Jake's eyes had gleamed with pride and love when he'd said Peyton's name, but that was nothing compared to he look that entered his eyes when he looked over at the baby girl- who had now been relocated to Nathan's arms- as he said, "That's my daughter Jenny."

"She's adorable," Finn told him with another glance in Jenny's direction. She didn't feel comfortable prying and asking for details, respecting the fact that Jake hadn't bombarded her with questions about her non-existent relationship with her deceased father. She felt completely wrung out after the last couple of hours- heck, the last few weeks. Ever since news had come of Keith's death, her world had been spinning out of control faster than she could take a breath.

As much as Jake wanted to ask what had suddenly brought Finn to Tree Hill, he didn't- he didn't really need the explanation so much as wanted it, and Lucas and Nathan seemed okay with her being there. Whatever was going on was for Lucas, Nathan, and Finn to work out- with the rest of them there to support their friends.

"So, Finn, you and Haley should really get together and sing one night at Tric," Nathan said as Jake took a seat at the table. The comment garnished curious glances from Lucas, Brooke, and Jake, so he explained, "She was singing at the cemetery, when it started to rain. You have a really great voice," he told his cousin, who began to feel the heat of a blush creeping up her neck.

"You sing?" Lucas inquired, arching his eyebrow as he glanced over at Finn.

With a slight nod of confirmation, Finn told him- and the curious group of listeners around her, "I sang in the choir at my high school and in junior high- with a whole bunch of other kids, so I was never really in the spotlight. But I like music- it helps me identify with things around me and makes me feel better. There's a song out there somewhere that fits each of my moods and every moment of my life, which I like."

"You and Haley should definitely do a duet or something at Tric, then," Lucas said, looking at both Finn and Haley and agreeing wholeheartedly with Nathan. He wanted Finn to make friends with their little group and feel like she fit in.

Finn gave a small shrug in reply, muttering, "Maybe."

Because he didn't want to push the subject, Lucas gave his cousin a reassuring grin and turned the subject to Haley and Nathan. "So, what have you two decided to name the baby?"

The original purpose for today's lunch had actually been for them to announce the name of the soon-to-be newest member of the Scott family, and five sets of inquisitive eyes turned to Nathan and Haley. With his infamous Scott smirk in place, Nathan laid a hand on his wife's bulging stomach and Haley intertwined her fingers with her husband's. "James Lucas Scott," he told the group, noting the surprised look on his brother's face.

Brooke, Haley, and Peyton quickly started up a conversation on what a cute name it was, with Peyton saying she would make a sign for baby James's bedroom with his name on it. Most of the artwork in his nursery had been done by Peyton, while Lucas, Nathan, and Jake had put together the furniture. Brooke had made the bedding and curtains and even designed a few outfits she couldn't wait to put baby James in.

Jake and Nathan had started up a conversation about basketball and hadn't noticed the look on Lucas's face. It was Finn's voice he heard through the haze clouding his mind.

"Lucas?" his cousin questioned. She'd tapped Brooke on the shoulder and the brunette had stood, thinking Finn needed to use the restroom, and had ended up just trading places with her. Brooke smiled at Finn as she realized the short blond just wanted to talk to her cousin.

Lucas turned his gaze to Finn and knew she must be wondering why he didn't seem happy with the news- it wasn't that he wasn't thrilled by the idea of having his nephew named after him, it was just that it was a little unexpected, and had made him think back to how just two years ago he and Nathan had hated one another. With a shake of his head, Lucas explained, "I just didn't expect it, that's all."

His cousin arched a brow and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he said with a little shrug. "I'm really happy about it, though- it's cool. It's just… Up until Nathan and Haley started dating and I joined the basketball team, Nathan and I… well, we pretty much despised one another. That was only a couple of years ago- and, while sometimes it feels like all of that happened forever ago and all of us," he motioned to the happily chattering group surrounding them, "have been friends, it still amazes me sometimes how so much can change in so little time- two years ago, Nathan never would have considered naming his son after me," he said with a genuine smile, proud to be able to share his name with his nephew and proud of what his relationship with his brother had evolved into.

"Really?" Finn asked, shocked by the information. Though she hadn't known them very long, or seen them interact much, even she could see that the two brothers thought highly of one another and loved each other. She couldn't imagine that they'd ever hated each other.

But Lucas bobbed his head in affirmation, leaving Finn completely baffled- and intrigued. "Why not- I mean, do you mind telling me? Because you don't have to," she hastened to add, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.

"You know we're half-brothers, right?" Lucas started, mentally configuring what he was going to say to explain the way things had been for years to his cousin. When she nodded, he went on with his story. "Well, we didn't, not until we were eight. I grew up resenting Nathan because our father had chosen him and Deb over me and my mom. As I got older, I didn't feel so bad for myself, because I'd had Keith," he paused, feeling a wealth of sadness once again that he'd had Keith in his life and Finn hadn't, "but I felt bad that Dan had hurt my mom that way. I wanted to make Dan realize that he'd made a mistake walking out on her.

"Nathan hated me for a bunch of reasons, too- Dan's not the nicest guy in the world, in fact he's pretty much just as far from it as you can get. And he's always pushed Nathan into playing basketball, pushing him so hard that back when Nathan and I were first really starting to get along a month or so after I joined the team, Nate took some amphetamines to improve his game so that he could beat one of Dan's records and ended up passing out on the court. He had to deal with that pressure all of his life- and I didn't. But as Dan's son, I should have.

"Plus, for years, Nathan had thought he was Dan's oldest son- his only son- and then, BAM!, he found out he wasn't. That was pretty hard for an eight-year-old kid to deal with. And Dan never wanted us to get along, either, so he fed that confusion and anger and helped twist it into hatred."

With wide eyes, Finn said, "But that changed. I can see that the two of you are really close and that you love each other. It's not like it used to be." The mention that he'd had Keith in his life didn't go unnoticed by Finn, but she'd expected that her father had been a part of both Luke and Nate's lives all along, but now she was confused as to why he hadn't been in Nathan's life.

Lucas nodded, grinning as he thought back to the Pinkerton game and how Whitey had made them walk thirty miles back to Tree Hill, and everything that had happened that night. That was the night he and his brother had started to understand one another.

"I've always played basketball, but I never joined any of the teams at school- and, since I was eight, I haven't joined a community league either, because that's how I found out about Dan and Nathan," Lucas continued his tale, "and one day Uncle Keith went and talked to Whitey- that's the coach of the Ravens, the Tree Hill varsity basketball team- and asked him to give me a shot. At first, Whitey and I were both more than a little reluctant, given all of the issues between Dan and Keith and Nathan and I, but I ended up joining.

"It wasn't easy, or pretty, and for a while Nathan and his friends on the team made my life a living hell, and then Haley started tutoring Nathan. At first, she made this deal with him that he had to lay off me since she was helping him, but then they ended up falling for each other- I wasn't thrilled with that by a long shot because I was sure Nathan was going to hurt her. After a while, I began to see that she was really happy with him, and I was glad, because Hales and I have been best friends since we were little kids. She's like a daughter to my mom, and I've always considered her to be my sister. I wanted her to be happy, but I hated seeing that it was Nathan of all people that she was so in love with.

"Nathan wasn't exactly happy, either, with the fact that Hales and I were such good friends and that he would sometimes get ditched so she could hang out with me. We finally figured out that if we wanted to keep Hales in our lives, we were going to have to accept each other's presence in our lives, too. So, we became… I don't know, not friends but not enemies. Acquaintances, I guess you could say. Which led to friendship… which led to brotherhood- and him and Haley naming their baby after me. All in about two years… "

By the time he'd finished, Finn understood the shock she'd seen on Lucas's face, but she was immensely glad that things had worked out. She was thrilled that her cousins had worked out their differences and made amends- she'd always wanted siblings and couldn't imagine hating them like Nathan and Lucas had hated each other.

"It's a good thing that Nathan and Haley fell in love, then," she said with a smile. "Otherwise, Nathan and his friends probably would have just kept hazing you and you might have quit the team- which would have been very sad. This way, though, the two of you were forced to put aside your differences or lose Haley."

Because he couldn't disagree with that statement, Lucas nodded. "Yeah- and I'm glad for it all now. They really love each other. They've had their ups and downs, but they make it work. I'm happy they found each other, and I'm really glad Hales helped Nate and I get to this point. I have a really great brother, and it's nice to be able to say that- it's nice to know it."

Finn gave a thoughtful nod in reply, then thought back to how Lucas had mentioned problems between his father and hers, and asked, "Why wasn't my dad a part of Nathan's life, Lucas?"

With a heavy sigh, uncertain as to how Finn would react to this, and feeling guiltier by the second that Keith had been a dad to him all those years and not to his own daughter, Lucas said, "When Dan walked away from my mom when she was pregnant with me to go to college and play basketball, Uncle Keith stepped in- he was pretty much my dad, and that caused a lot of issues between him and Dan. Dan wanted me out of his life completely, and Keith kept that from happening. But Keith loved my mom and he loved me- he taught me how to fish and how to ride a bike and how to drive. He helped me learn to read and made me feel better when I was sick. I could talk to him about anything and everything- and I did. I think Dan resented that, even though he didn't want to be a part of my life, because he didn't think that Keith should get to do all of those things with me. It made things between Nathan and Uncle Keith difficult, and not just because of Dan but because of me. But once Nate and I started to get along more, Uncle Keith became a bigger part of Nate's life."

Finn could feel her eyes swelling with tears once more and cursed the emotional rollercoaster she'd hopped on today as she said, "He wouldn't have walked away from my mom and me."

It wasn't a statement, and they both knew it. It made Finn even angrier with her mother for taking her away from her dad and from her cousins. Finn noticed the nervousness glinting in Lucas's blue eyes and gave him a watery smile. "It wasn't your fault that you got to have him as a dad and I didn't, Lucas. My mom should have given my dad the option to be a part of my life and she didn't. And I…" She gulped in a breath of much-needed air and let a few tears slide down her cheeks. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive her for that, Lucas."

Grateful that she didn't hate him and that she was still there, allowing him to be a part of her life, Lucas reached wrapped his arm around her in a one-armed hug and squeezed her tightly. "It's okay to be upset with her, Finn- hell, I'm upset with her for taking that opportunity away from Uncle Keith, and for keeping you away from me. It would have been nice to have grown up with you. And maybe one day you will forgive her- or maybe you won't. But I promise you that Nathan, Haley, little baby James, our little brother or sister, Brooke, Peyton, Jake, Jenny, Deb, and I will always be here for you from now on and make-up for all the years we lost- and we'll make sure you hear all about your dad, okay?"

Finn could only nod and hold Lucas tighter, elated by his pledge.


	8. How Do I Live?

**A/N: **Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I know I say that every time- it's no less true any time, either, but still… My computer, my dear friend Ed, crashed after years of loyal service and I have been without a computer for a bit. Hence the delay- or at least a portion of it. We cut off our landline because we all mostly use our cell phones anyway, and the people at the phone company pulled the wrong plug or something because we lost our Internet for a while, too. Which sucked. That was before Ed croaked, though- I finally had Internet again and was so amazingly happy because not having it had made me a little down in the dumps and I just wasn't feeling like writing, and then… Ed died. Which really sucked.

**Disclaimer: **So much for saving to buy OTH- now it's time to save to buy a new computer!

**Chapter Eight**

After a lunch filled with laughter and tears- mostly from laughing so hard- Lucas offered to take Finn back to his mom's house and show her some pictures of Keith and tell her some stories. Nathan and Haley tagged along to Karen's as well; Peyton and Jake had to take Jenny to doctor's appointment.

Finn's first thought as she entered the house was how cozy it looked. She could picture Lucas as a little boy running through the house, laughing as her dad chased him around, with Karen laughing in the background, and she wished so desperately that she had been a part of that.

Lucas showed her photo album after photo album, each picture capturing a moment forever and telling a story. Lucas shared those stories with her, sometimes with a smile and sometimes with a few tears, filling her head with images of what seemed to have been a very happy childhood for her cousin.

She watched Lucas grow in the pictures, aging from a newborn baby to the young man who sat beside her now. She listened intently as he told her how Keith had taught him how to ride his bike, first with training wheels and later without. She watched his face light up as he spoke about the days he'd worked in the garage with Keith and how they'd played basketball together. He beamed with pride when he spoke about the father-son basketball game he and Keith had participated in the year before, as well as this year, with Keith being the "father" half of that equation both years- the first for Lucas and the second for Lucas and Nathan.

Her heart broke a little more with each story, yet somehow managed to fill to almost bursting at the same time with happiness and pride- her cousins were kind and wonderful young men, and her father had helped them become the great guys she'd had the pleasure of meeting today. She knew that Lucas and Nathan would both take the lessons Keith had taught them and pass them on to their children- and to the children Keith had left behind.

Despite the fact that Dan had not played an active role in Lucas's childhood, there had been no shortage of love in his life; Finn saw that clearly reflected in the smiling faces of the family in the pictures and heard in Lucas's voice as his memories surfaced.

There were pictures of Karen and Keith together, as well, and Finn's heart swelled with happiness that her father had found love with Lucas's mother. The way they looked at each other in the pictures, like they were the only two people on the planet, spoke volumes about their love for one another.

Looking over at Lucas, sitting so patiently beside her on the sofa, she wondered if there would ever be a time when she didn't resent her mother from keeping this away from her; wondered if she would ever be able to get past that. It didn't seem incredibly likely, which saddened her- she knew she should be a bigger person than that, but she didn't know how to set her pain aside. For the first time in her life, she didn't feel like trying to find common ground with her mom, didn't care what happened to their relationship.

Lucas watched as one emotion after another flitted across Finn's face after he'd finished showing her the albums he'd retrieved from their place on the oak bookshelf in the living room. He'd been so afraid that his cousin would resent him for having the life she should have that he hadn't even thought about who it was that she was really blaming for not getting to know Keith until now. Try as he might, he couldn't understand how Becky had kept Finn from his uncle, what logic she'd used to convince herself it was a good idea.

Sure, Keith had had his faults- even Lucas, one of Keith's biggest champions, was aware of that. He'd been human, after all. But had he deserved to miss seeing his daughter grow up? That he was going to miss out on the life of the child his mother was carrying was bad enough- but certainly wasn't a choice Karen or Keith had made. He knew that, if she could, his mom would bring Keith back and let him share in the joys of raising their child together, just as they had shared in raising him. But she couldn't.

Finn, however… Finn's mother had made a choice, had painted Keith with Dan's brush and kept his child from him. Lucas didn't know what to tell his cousin- he could see she was torn, that she didn't know what to do with her feelings, but he felt the same anger, the same hurt. On his own behalf, on Finn's behalf… On Keith's behalf.

After closing the last of the albums, Finn leaned her head back against the sofa, willing herself not to cry- hadn't she done enough of that for one day? She found it hard to believe that she even had any tears left in her, but if the lump of emotion clogging her throat was anything to go on, she had more that a few ready to be let loose. She didn't plan on allowing that, though.

Lucas wrapped his arm around his cousin's shoulders and thought about how very much his life had changed in just a few short hours. He wondered if Finn even realized how much her presence in Tree Hill, in his and his family's lives, meant- he didn't think she really did. What he did know was that he wasn't going to let anyone say or do anything to hurt her… And, while he didn't particularly like the idea, since his mother and Nathan seemed to have started believing that maybe Dan still had _some_ good inside of him, that included his father.

From the moment she'd divulged the truth about who she was, Lucas had been looking for signs of Keith in her. They weren't hard to find- the physical similarities had jumped out at him first, naturally, but her personality, her ability to care and to let people in- she was so much like Keith. She had this air of wisdom about her that made her seem so much older than she was- and he'd often seen that around his uncle and wondered what he'd gone through in the past that had given him that wisdom. Sitting on the couch with Finn right then, he wondered if maybe it wasn't, at least in part, genetic.

He supposed it could have just easily been passed onto her by her mother, or taught to her by her mom, but he didn't really want to think about the woman that had deprived Keith of getting to know his daughter. Like Finn, he didn't know if he would ever be ready to cross that bridge.

As the two teens lounged on the sofa, photo album closed and resting on their touching knees, both were too lost in their own thoughts to hear the sound of the door opening, or the heavy footfalls of the man who walked inside the cozy little house.

"Karen? Lucas? Anyone home?" Dan Scott called out, concern evident in his voice as he thought about all of the reasons Karen might not reply if she was home. The doctor had said that her age put her in the "at-risk pregnancy" category, and Dan had taken it upon himself to make sure that nothing went wrong. He didn't know if he could live with himself if something happened to that tiny little piece of Keith Karen was carrying. Some days, he didn't know how he lived with himself as it was…

Jolted out of their musings, the cousins jumped and turned to face the man that had intruded on the comfortable silence that had fallen over them. Lucas still hadn't figured out how he was supposed to act around Dan- after all, when had his father ever been a part of his life before? He wanted to believe that losing Keith had somehow changed Dan, made him realize his own mortality and that he really didn't want to die alone and bitter, which had definitely been the road he'd been heading down before. For his mother's sake, and for his brother's, Lucas tolerated Dan and treated him as civilly as possible, given their differences.

Though there had not been any pictures of the man standing in front of her in any of the photo albums Lucas had shown her, nor were there any displayed on the walls or on tables around the living room, Finn knew that he was Dan Scott. Even if she hadn't spent hours online doing research on Tree Hill- which included its mayor- she knew just by looking at him that he was Nathan's father.

With everything Lucas had told her earlier about why Keith hadn't been a part of Nathan's life more growing up- not to mention the fact that because Dan had walked away from Karen and Lucas so many years ago, her mother had taken away any chance she'd had to know her own father- Finn was more than a little uncertain as to how to treat Dan.

Completely oblivious to the fact that the girl standing before him was his niece, Dan smiled warmly- or, at least, as warmly as a man like Dan Scott ever smiled. "Hello, Lucas. I just dropped by to check on your mom- I'm never sure anymore when she's at the café and when she's not, you know."

"She's at the café," Lucas responded coolly- not harshly, but not with any more feeling than necessary… which just happened to be none.

Dan nodded and looked over at Finn. There was something familiar about her but he just couldn't place it- was she perhaps someone that went to school with Lucas and Nathan? If that was the case, wouldn't he have met her before? At least, if they were friends. Maybe she was just an acquaintance… It probably wasn't all that important, but still he asked, "And who's your friend?"

There it was- the question both teens had been dreading since they'd seen Dan's face a minute before. But telling Dan that Finn was Keith's daughter couldn't be any more complicated or difficult that telling Lucas and Nathan or Karen, right?

Because Lucas seemed more reluctant to speak and because she figured she'd had more practice revealing this truth today, Finn pasted a hesitant smile on her lips and looked her uncle in the eyes as she spoke. "I'm Finn Scott, Becky Siler and Keith Scott's daughter… which would make you my uncle."

Keith's daughter. Keith's daughter. Keith's daughter. The words kept replaying themselves over and over in his mind until it was all Dan could think. He literally even forgot to breathe- and collapsed on the floor wondering again how he could live with himself for taking his little brother's life.


	9. To Make Things Right

**A/N: **I know I promised this last week, but we got the news that our landlord was putting our house on the market and have been busy looking for houses the past few days, in between blackouts brought on by both storms and the unusually high heat in the area. I apologize for the delay and hope you enjoy this chapter. No ships, sorry- I promise, there will be Brucas, Naley, and Jeyton goodness in the next chapter, along with Keith paying a visit to the unconscious Dan… Enjoy! -Jess

**Disclaimer: **Don't I wish…

**Chapter Nine**

Knowing that he couldn't rationalize ignoring Dan's fainting spell and walking out of the house and away from the monster that was his father, Lucas grudgingly walked over to the large man who was now sprawled on the floor, taking up enough of the small entryway to make walking out the front door impossible without stepping over him.

Dan's reaction was a little unorthodox in Lucas's opinion, but maybe the surprise of Keith having a child no one knew about had given him another heart attack. And while Lucas certainly had his share of problems with Dan, and then some, he didn't want to see the man die- which was a vast improvement over two years ago, when he had briefly hoped that Dan would, believing tat he had caused their family more than enough pain and suffering over the years.

He still thought Dan was bad news, but Lucas had seen what Dan's heart attack had done to the people he was supposed to love and didn't care to see that again.

As Lucas crouched down beside him, a wide-eyed Fin looking on and wondering if it was going to be necessary to call 911, Dan's eyes flew open, colliding almost instantly with his niece's. Wondering for the umpteenth time how he could have taken his brother's life the way he had, Dan let his gaze wander over the young woman now on bended knee beside his son- yet another person in this life he had failed.

What startled him most was that he could see Keith in her eyes- those whiskey0colored eyes that had always known better than Santa Claus if you'd been bad or good. It wasn't just that her eyes reminded him of Keith, though- it was as though they held a picture of her father and it was staring Dan right in the eyes. He could see his brother, standing there with his mouth set in a grim line and an eyebrow arched- not accusing, exactly, just questioning, wanting to known why Dan had done all of the things he had. And even Dan didn't have the answer.

Was it always going to be like this? Every time he saw Finn, was he going to see Keith? And would that be such a bad thing, to have this extension of his older brother around all the time? Dan didn't think it would be too bad, actually. Though it had taken Keith's death to realize it, ironically enough, he had always loved his brother- and, for whatever reason, Keith had always loved him and tried to help him. It would soothe the ache he had caused his own soul, the one that had been created by losing Keith forever, to have his brother's daughter around.

And if Keith really was watching over his family from the Great Beyond, Dan prayed his brother knew how badly he wished he could change things, and how he was trying his best to make amends. He wanted to be the person Keith had always known he could be- wanted to see Keith's reflection in Finn's eyes, a proud smile on his face. Maybe he was delusional, maybe was certifiable, or maybe it was just a case of a guilty conscience, but the thought that his brother could see them all and knew how much he had been loved in life and would still be loved long after his death- it made all the difference in the world to Dan and was really the only thing that made him want to wake up in the mornings. He had to make things right with Karen, Lucas, Nathan, Deb… and now Finn. Because making things right with them was the only way he was ever going to make things right with Keith now.

**0o0o0o0**

"Are you alright?" Finn questioned her uncle- the man that had turned his back on Karen and Lucas years ago and perpetuated her mother's fear that Keith would do the same to her.

Given what Lucas had told her at the café, along with what she already knew about him, she had expected to hate Dan Scott on sight. Something told her that, for all of his faults, her father had loved his misguided younger brother and, though Finn wasn't certain she'd go so far as to claim she loved her uncle, she did feel sorry for him at the very least.

And, at the moment, she was a little irritated by the look he was giving her. She could appreciate the fact that her existence had startled him- had her parentage surprised everyone she'd met thus far? But did the man really have to stare at her as though she'd grown a second head and he expected her to sprout a third any second? Really!

Not willing to risk incurring his mother's or his brother's wrath, Lucas dug his cell phone from his pocket and dialed 911, just in case Dan was in need of medical attention. With as hard as he'd hit the floor, Lucas wouldn't rule out the possibility of a head injury, however minor, in addition to the very real possibility of a second heart attack, either.

If Finn, who didn't know about the first heart attack as far as Lucas knew, thought her cousin was over-reacting to what was, in all probability, just a one-time fainting spell brought on by what was quite possibly the shock of a lifetime for Dan, she didn't say so. Instead, she busied herself by going to the kitchen and getting Dan a cold glass of water. Lucas kept his father from rising to even a sitting position until she came back with the glass and then reluctantly allowed Dan to sit up and drink the proffered beverage, still fearful something may be wrong.

His fears weren't unjustified and that quickly became apparent to the teens as, when he sat up, Dan's eyes widened and he clutched his chest before collapsing back onto the floor, his eyes rolling back inside his head as he passed out again.

Finn and Lucas watched in terror as Dan experienced what both were certain was a heart attack, and Finn reached to check his pulse almost immediately to reassure herself that her uncle's heart was in fact still beating, half-expecting not to find one. She breathed a sigh of relief, though, when she felt the admittedly faint but slightly reassuring rhythm beneath her shaking fingers.

What a day this was turning out to be…


	10. Angel Watching Over Us

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it- guess Santa didn't think I'd been good enough this year… Oh, well, there's always next year…

A/N: Yes, I know it's been forever, but I finally updated! I'm sorry it took so long and I really hope you enjoy this chapter because, even though it took on a life of its own and is absolutely nothing like I'd figured it would be, I really like it. So, please review and let me know what you think of it! -Jess

Chapter Ten

Dan was unconscious during the trip to the ER, a fact he thought he might later be grateful for because, as he'd heard seemed to be rapidly becoming one of his big brother's favorite ways of passing time these days, Keith decided to pay him a visit.

He wasn't lying on a gurney in an ambulance along the streets of the hometown he'd only just started to actually see, but instead standing in a gym- _the_ gym. Whitey's gym. There wasn't a crowd- far from it, since there was no one around at all. Not at first, anyway. There weren't even any basketballs discarded on the hard floor he'd spent so many years of his life on when he should have been being a brother and a father and a husband. There was silence, heavy and almost suffocating.

And then there was Keith- not glowing, like he figured an angel should, but looking exactly as he had that last day. There was a hardness to his eyes that Dan had become accustomed to seeing in those last years, one that had only ever been there when he was around, and he was sorry for that. There was a sadness there, too, one that he'd never seen before, and he thought he might know why it was there now. He'd like to think Keith was watching them all now in death as he had in life, and that he'd seen Finn and somehow knew she was his daughter.

He didn't know what to say to Keith. He knew what he _should_ say to the image of the man whose life he had so callously taken, but he didn't know where to begin. _How_ to begin… Nothing he could say would change the events of that day, nor any day prior to it. Nothing he could say would bring his brother back, though somehow he and all of Tree Hill had just been blessed, just been given a wonderful piece of Keith back, and Dan knew he'd always be grateful for that.

He didn't feel the tears making salty tracks down his cheeks, didn't realize that he may as well have been speaking his thoughts out loud because Keith heard them all. And while his big brother certainly wasn't his number one fan right then- after all, how could he be, when Dan had taken him away from everything, every_one_, that he loved- Keith was seeing a side to Dan he hadn't seen in years. For the first time in a long time, his little brother seemed human. Dan Scott was truly sorry for the wrongs that he'd committed and Keith knew he'd spend the rest of his life trying to make them right- not that he could ever completely do that, but he would certainly make every effort.

Keith didn't forget his anger at Dan, didn't forget that this man was responsible for him never having the chance to see his and Karen's child be born or that he would never meet the daughter he'd never even known existed; these were all things that he _couldn't_ forget, but maybe he didn't hate his brother after all. Maybe some good had come from his death, maybe there had been a reason for it after all. Maybe it had taken his death for Dan to be the man Keith had always known he could be, the man he had always hoped Dan would be.

"I'm so sorry, Keith," Dan croaked, looking like a little boy who'd lost his best friend, with tears furiously streaming down his cheeks and his broad shoulders heaving with every sob that echoed in the almost-empty gym. And somewhere closer in his heart than he'd thought possible to feel for this man since his death, Keith found it possible to be the man he'd been, to be the man his family and friends would be telling his children about. He didn't know what to say, or if there was anything he could say, as he did the one thing he'd thought he'd never do again- for the first time since they were boys, younger than Lucas and Nathan were now, he hugged his little brother.

"He's had another heart-attack," was all the doctors would tell any of them when they asked how Dan was. He'd been rushed into surgery immediately- was that normal after a heart-attack? Was there something more going on? Was he going to die?

So many questions they wanted to ask but weren't given the chance to; the doctors who knew anything about Dan's condition had all rushed off to perform surgery on him. It felt a little odd to all of them to be sitting there, in a cold waiting room that had been the scene of heartbreaks and joy so many times before for so many other families and friends.

Karen sat stoically, her gaze never leaving a random spot on the harsh white wall in front of her, and wondered if she would be burying Dan as she had Keith not so long ago; wondered if the seemingly endless roller-coaster ride she'd been on since she'd first met the Scott brothers years before would come to an end that night, in a hospital that felt so cold but invoked thousands, millions, of emotions.

In some ways, she knew, if Dan died, it would- and she wasn't sure whether she should be happy for that or saddened by that thought. After all, at various points through-out most of her life, she'd loved each man. Hadn't she felt joy with both, sorrow with both, been loved by both, been hurt by both? They were each as much a part of her, it seemed, as her arms or her legs- she could lose them and still find a way to function, to live, but it would never be the same as it was before.

Lucas sat beside his mother, unsure how to feel or what to think, only grateful to have his closest friends and family by his side- to have Brooke by his side. Through all of their ups and downs- and they had certainly had plenty of each, with many more of both to hopefully come down the road- their love for each other had survived, had survived and gotten stronger with each moment that had passed. And he knew what the woman beside him, the woman his arms instinctively wrapped around whenever she was near, would tell him to do right now if he felt inclined to ask. Because Brooke, despite the image she portrayed to most of the world, always sought to see the best in things- in people.

She would tell him to be grateful- because he was there in part because of Dan, because Nathan was there in part because of Dan. She would tell him that he didn't have to like Dan, but that he had been raised to care for all people, to forgive people because others forgave him. She would tell him that, no matter what happened there that night, she would always be there for him. So he tightened his embrace around her petite form just a bit more and told himself he was grateful and that he could forgive Dan because he had Brooke- and because Keith had taught him to be the man Brooke saw him as.

Nathan held Haley's hand as tightly as he dared and prayed that he wouldn't lose his dad because, for the first time in his entire life, Nathan Scott had finally begun to feel like he had a dad and not a live-in basketball coach. He might never know what exactly had brought about such an extensive change in Dan, but he was thankful for it. Dan had become a man he could be proud to call his dad, a man he wanted his son to know. If Dan died now, he knew he'd feel like Finn must have when she'd learned Keith had died- he would mourn the possibilities the future might have brought, the memories they might have made- and he didn't want that. When his dad died, he wanted to be able to mourn the man that he had been, to remember with bittersweet memories. But most of all, he wanted Dan to live long enough to be a dad to Lucas, as well, because his brother deserved it and because it would make Keith proud.

Peyton and Jake could only sit a little more awkwardly than all the rest, pillars of support ready to be called upon at any moment by their friends, as they remembered the times they'd sat in similar waiting rooms with them all.

Peyton had taken out her notebook and pencil and begun to draw the group, which now seemed complete- which she found a little odd, since she'd never particularly thought anyone was missing from it, really. She drew Luke holding Brooke in his arms, and Nathan holding Haley tightly right beside Luke. On the other side of Luke and Brooke, she drew herself in Jake's arms. Behind them all, she drew Karen and Deb, one arm slung over each other's shoulders and the other resting lightly on their sons' shoulders.

She drew Jenny on her own hip and changed one of Jake's arms to have his hand resting lightly on his daughter's head, even though Jenny was home with Jake's parents that night- the picture wasn't to immortalize the scene around her, but to cement the fact that this was the family she'd waited her whole life to find. She drew Finn standing between Luke and Nate and re-drew their arms so they each had one around her shoulders while still keeping the others wrapped around Brooke and Haley.

Then she drew a circle around them all and put them in a globe, which was held carefully in two hands. Finally, she drew the face of the man looking into the globe- Keith. By the time she'd finished it, everyone around her was as soundly asleep as possible in the uncomfortable hospital chairs, and her eyes were wet with tears.

In the empty corner at the top, she wrote the only title that seemed fitting: Angel Watching Over Us, and signed her name. This was one to paint on her wall.


End file.
